Aliran Monthly Vol 24 (2004): Issue 10

---

Please support our work by buying a copy of our print publication, Aliran Monthly, from your nearest news-stand. Better still take out a subscription now. If you prefer to read our web-based edition, please support our work and make a donation.

---

	Discarding separate seating arrangements and the practice of providing different cutlery for different people at official functions, as suggested by Rafidah (pic), is a step in the right direction. Mustafa K Anuar

Aliran welcomes the views expressed by Minister of International Trade and Industry Rafidah Aziz last Sunday (21 March 1993) regarding the need to review the normal practice of conducting elaborate ceremonies for welcoming dignitaries such as ministers and the use of salutations.

This is indeed in line with the government’s current aspiration to curb and check present practices of honouring dignitaries especially the royalty that can be deemed as unIslamic and demeaning to the dignity of the ordinary rakyat.

It is only proper that ministers and other political leaders, being a group voted in by the rakyat, should behave in a manner that would not distance themselves from the people whom they are supposed to serve.

Discarding separate seating arrangements and the practice of providing different cutlery for different people at official functions, as suggested by Rafidah, is a step in the right direction.

In addition, by doing away with elaborate welcoming ceremonies, the government would also cut down on waste of man-hours, time that government servants would better spend by serving the general public and increasing the productivity of the departments concerned,

Salutations such as Yang Amat Berhormat, Yang Berbahagia and Yang Berhormat also require a re-think. A possible negative effect of these titles is that they invite loyalty on the part of the general public. This could lead to abuse on the part of the title-holder.

Finally, the issuing of titles to people requires serious reviewing given the fact that these titles, in certaiin cases, have been misused by certain people and also carry a certain feudal aura.

There are a few possibilities:

• The government may want to abolish the practice of issuing titles as a step towards egalitarianism in society,



• Secondly, if titles are still seen as playing a necessary social function, titles should be restricted to a few people only (throughout the whole country).



• Thirdly, the government ought to do away with titles that are not only too long but also “feudal” sounding, such as Datuk Indera Kayangan Bistari (which some state might in future confer).

Mustafa K Anuar
Aliran exco member
23 March 1993

Source: Aliran Monthly 1993:13(3)

Now e-mail us and tell us what you think. Your comments might be published in the Letters section of our print magazine, Aliran Monthly.